First Picture

Tolman Baby's 1st picture!

Well, there it is, the first picture of our Tolman Baby. And yep, it seems there's just one in there. (*Huge sigh of relief from Mom*, *Small sigh of disappointment from Dad*)

We had so much fun at the ultrasound appointment! It's AMAZING what technology can do. This kiddo is less than one inch long from crown to rump and we have a picture of it! Truly amazing! Based on the measurements, the ultrasound tech said technically our due date should be a little later; August 24th, 2010. But, the doctor says since it's less than 7 days off, we'll stick with the original August 20th due date.

The thing that was most emotional for me was seeing the heartbeat. There was this little flutter or glimmer at the center of the chest and it was obvious that's what it was. They don't listen to the heartbeat yet, the tech says it puts too much power on that tiny heart. But, we did get to measure how fast it's beating. It's a whopping 167 bpm which they said was perfect.

So, those are the most exciting details of the appointment. If you're the least bit squeamish, or get grossed out by the talk of anatomy or female things, stop reading here.

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If not, I want to tell you about another part of the ultrasound that I thought was really cool! They check out all of my anatomy, I guess to be sure I'm capable of doing this whole pregnancy thing, I don't know. But anyway, it was really neat. The first thing the tech said was that my uterus is backward. I have no idea what that means or if it really matters, but she didn't seem concerned. Then she mentioned something about my  cervix being tipped, but seemed unconcerned by that as well. She said that based on the way my uterus is positioned, I may have more discomfort in my back than is typical.

The part I thought was really neat was when they looked at my ovaries. They looked at the left side first and of course I had no idea what to look for and couldn't discern any gray stuff from any other gray stuff. But supposedly the tech could. Then she changed the view so we could see the blood flow through it. That was neat! She also made a recording of the sound of the blood flow and it was just a faint murmur. Then she looked at the right side. When I had gone in for my first appointment the doctor said my right ovary may have a cyst, or may be the one producing the hormones to sustain the pregnancy. It seems she was right! The right ovary was much larger than the left and there was MUCH more blood flowing through it. When she recorded the blood-flow, we could hear my bounding heartbeat. It was crazy! She said that means that the egg was released from the right ovary and the part that is left in the ovary (I think she called it the corpus luteum) produces the hormones for the pregnancy until the placenta (I think, I could have this all wrong) can take over the hormone production. Isn't that amazing?! I can't believe they have a way to know all this stuff!

I think that pretty much sums up the whole appointment. You now know more about me than you ever dreamed, but that's what blogging's all about, right? I hope you squeamish ones didn't keep reading! Have a great weekend!